All 50 Uses of
Methuselah
in
The Poisonwood Bible
- He'd left us two boarders, in fact: Mama Tataba and a parrot named Methuselah.†
Chpt 1 *
- Under the eave of the porch our charge Methuselah screamed like a drowning man in his cage.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah is an African Grey parrot with a fine scaly look to his head, a sharp skeptical eye like Miss Leep's, and a scarlet tail.†
Chpt 1
- Long ago someone broke off the inches nineteen through thirty-six and assigned these to Methuselah for the conduct of his affairs.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah may or may not have heard about this, for he mumbles badly.†
Chpt 1
- Then in a low-pitched growl, "Piss off, Methuselah!"†
Chpt 1
- My sisters and I shifted in our chairs, expecting Father to assign Methuselah "The Verse.†
Chpt 1
- But in the case of the cursing parrot that first long rainy day, Methuselah could not be made to copy the Bible.†
Chpt 1
- Curiously exempt from the Reverend's rules was Methuselah, in the same way Our Father was finding the Congolese people beyond his power.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah was a sly little representative of Africa itself, living openly in our household.†
Chpt 1
- But the storm lashed sideways, battering the walls and poor Methuselah.†
Chpt 1
- When his screaming got too pathetic to bear, our grim-faced mother brought in his cage and set it on the floor by the window, where Methuselah continued his loud, random commentary.†
Chpt 1
- "The first time my father heard Methuselah say, "Damn," his body moved strangely, as if he'd received the spirit or a twinge of bad heartburn.†
Chpt 1
- We had known him to forbear with a silent grimace when Methuselah said, "Piss off," but of course that was the doing of Brother Fowles.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah had never said "Damn" before, so this was something new, spoken right out very chipper in a feminine tone of voice.†
Chpt 1
- "Which one of you taught Methuselah to say that word?" he demanded.†
Chpt 1
- I myself would not curse, in or out of Methuselah's hearing or even in my dreams, because I crave heaven and to be my father's favorite.†
Chpt 1
- I'll tell you what, though, Methuselah is not dumb.†
Chpt 1
- From Methuselah we have learned the Irish-Yankee voice of Brother Fowles, whom we picture as looking like that Father Flanagan that runs the Boys Town.†
Chpt 1
- Furthermore, Methuselah didn't just imitate words, he knew them.†
Chpt 1
- We already understood what was now dawning on my father: Methuselah could betray our secrets.†
Chpt 1
- I hadn't even considered the irreversible spoiling of Methuselah's innocence, which just goes to show I have much to learn.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah was definitely in the girls' camp.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah called out.†
Chpt 1
- This happened often at our house, but we always knew it was Methuselah, since we did have a door and did not, as a rule, have visitors.†
Chpt 1
- "Damn damn damn!" observed Methuselah.†
Chpt 1
- Unable to work either the dishwater or Methuselah's long memory into a proper ending for his parable, Our Father merely looked at us all and heaved the great sigh of the put-upon male.†
Chpt 1
- From his big cage on the porch, Methuselah screeched at us in Kikongo.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah called.†
Chpt 1
- He shoved himself straight to his feet, strode to the porch, and flung open the door of Methuselah's cage.†
Chpt 1
- Methuselah hunched his shoulders and sidled away from the door.†
Chpt 1
- In my father's hands Methuselah looked like nothing but a feathered toy.†
Chpt 1
- But no. In a burst of light Methuselah opened his wings and fluttered like freedom itself, lifting himself to the top of our Kentucky Wonder vines and the highest boughs of the jungle that will surely take back everything once we are gone.†
Chpt 1
- Or I'd cut up fruit for Methuselah, still hanging around begging, and catch grasshoppers for Leon, the chameleon we keep in a wooden crate.†
Chpt 2
- The Congolese children's understanding of the game didn't even take courtesy or rudeness into account, if you think about it, any more than Methuselah did when he railed us with hell and damnation.†
Chpt 2
- REHCTACYLF ESIDARAP I also made a habit of following Methuselah as he made his way around our house in insecure spirals.†
Chpt 2
- Methuselah, like me, is a cripple: the Wreck of Wild Africa.†
Chpt 2
- Now Methuselah creeps each morning out of the little hole under the rafters of our latrine house, cocks his head, and casts one nervous eye upward as if in prayer: Lord of the feathers, deliver me this day from the carnivores that could tear me breast from wishbone!†
Chpt 2
- In following Methuselah on his slow forays through the forest, I discovered the boys and men practicing drills.†
Chpt 2
- I wanted to think: Methuselah is playing a trick on me.†
Chpt 2
- We also watched Methuselah, who after four months of liberation still hung around our house mumbling.†
Chpt 2
- At first I wanted Methuselah to come back and live in his cage, until Father explained to me that this whole arrangement was wrong.†
Chpt 2
- We let Methuselah go because his captivity was an embarrassment to us.†
Chpt 2
- So I had to root for Methuselah to learn to be free.†
Chpt 2
- "Methuselah had sidled up into the bougainvillea bush right behind us, muttering, "Lubberlubberlubber."†
Chpt 2
- Methuselah sits puny and still in his avocado tree with his eyes ticking back and forth, unprepared for a new season of overwhelming freedom.†
Chpt 2
- Methuselah.†
Chpt 2
- Set upon by the civet cat, the spy, the eye, the hunger of a superior need, Methuselah is free of his captivity at last.†
Chpt 2
- Like Methuselah I cowered beside my cage, and though my soul hankered after the mountain, I found, like Methuselah, I had no wings.†
Chpt 3
- Like Methuselah I cowered beside my cage, and though my soul hankered after the mountain, I found, like Methuselah, I had no wings.†
Chpt 3
Definition:
Old Testament: grandfather of Noah who is said to have lived 969 years
or more rarely: a man who is very old
or more rarely: a man who is very old